This was one of the uglier games I’ve seen in a while. Tony Romo was obviously hurting and the absence of Miles Austin showed just how horrid the Cowboys receiving corps are. The fact that Kevin Ogletree wasn’t benched and had 7 targets shows you how bad they were hurting. The lack of targets and production for Dez Bryant is a little worrisome, but hopefully stemmed from his injury and his quarterback’s injury. Felix Jones played well with his separated shoulder until he separated from it again in the 4th quarter. Why can’t those two just work it out!? Jones played 32 snaps to Tashard Choice’s 24 and Demarco Murray’s 10. With the bye looming in week 5 there’s a chance they may rest Jones to give him 2 weeks off. Choice would most likely split time with Murray, but get a few more touches.

Not much good came from this game in terms of fantasy, but the rise of Eric Decker is still in effect. Yes, his fantasy numbers were lackluster, but 12 targets with Brandon Lloyd back shows that he should continue to see the football. And Decker’s emergence should help Lloyd find some room as well. The running back situation is still pretty murky with Knowshon Moreno being held back once again due to injury. In his absence Willis McGahee didn’t distinguish himself so look for the committee approach to return when Moreno does.

The Lions saw plenty of pressure from Jared Allen and friends, but adjusted in the second half and did what they do in the passing game. This week’s PPR Lion King was Brandon Pettigrew with 13. His targets have gone 6, 3, 13 in the first 3 weeks. That doesn’t leave me too excited about him seeing consistent targets with Tony Scheffler, Nate Burleson and Titus Young all in the mix. And that target discrepancy can now be said for Nate Burleson as well. With only 2 targets in week 3 he is now tied with Titus Young for 4th on the target list. Burleson was still on the field for 73 snaps compared to Young’s 46, but this makes him a riskier start going forward and even though Young has seen 7/8 targets the last 2 games I’d still like to see it again before I’d feel comfortable with him.

This game, as far as the targets go, looks like the perfect spread for Green Bay, or at least close to it. Jennings with 10, Finley with 8, Nelson with 5 and then the rest fight over the scraps. Of course Finley got the touchdowns, but those will get spread out. Donald Driver is losing targets quickly. His week 1-3 target numbers were 7, 1, and 2. Randall Cobb is his replacement, but for now Jordy Nelson is the lowest rung you can grasp at this point.

The running back situation just got dicey. James Starks looked as if he would continue to be the lead back, but then went and had a horrible game in Chicago while Ryan Grant had a great game. But now that Grant has made this statement it doesn’t mean Starks is done. We most likely will see the targets and touches tilt to Grant’s side going forward, but Starks has plenty of life left in his legs to fight back.

The rise of James Casey is the headliner for the Texans this week. The TE/FB position hasn’t been a hot bed for fantasy greatness or for much of anything for that matter, but Casey is out to champion the TE/FB and lead them to world domination! He was used nearly as much as Kevin Walter in the passing game and much more than Jacoby Jones. And as far as targets and production go he started to lap them.

There is a decent chance that Houston is going to take a cue from Bill Belichick and work with 2 even 3 tight end sets and get matchup problems with Daniels and Casey. With Steve Slaton being released there are no small passing down backs to bring in and tip the playbook to the defensive coordinator. If you can have 2 tight ends and a TE/FB out there and still open up the passing game, that can be effective.

Mike Thomas is the biggest football hog in the NFL. He has garnered 42% of all passes thrown by the Jaguar quarterbacks. Even in a downpour he managed 8 targets. Of course with a rookie quarterback these targets aren’t going to all turn into receptions. He’s only catching 54% of his targets, but I have hope for him because he is consistently getting these targets and can put up serviceable PPR numbers.

Not much can be said for this group of misfits. Dexter McCluster’s 9 rushes and 5 receptions were good to see, but on such an inept offense it will be difficult for him to get into the end zone enough to make up for 15 or less touches a game. The best case scenario for him is in full PPR leagues against soft defenses.

Below you will find a bunch of information that I will try my best to shepherd you through. The numbers by each name are targets for week 3 and then in the parenthesis (those things we use for smilies and frownies) are the total year to date targets.

All snap count data comesfrom our friends over at Pro Football Focus http://www.profootballfocus.com/

Todd Heap was the target story in this one. Jeff King had been the guy getting the few tight end targets (and scoring TDs in the process), but Heap got a whole bunch of them on Sunday and caught 6 for 61 yards. If he starts to see target numbers like this consistently he’ll be ownable. Early Doucet and Andre Roberts continue to split targets and will cancel each other out. Larry Fitzgerald is leading in target numbers as he should, averaging 8 a game, but last season he averaged over 10 a game and I’d like to see those number increase. In this offense he should get 100 receptions and he’s on pace for 80.

Rowdy Roddy White was the target czar this week as he should be. He’d easily win the target hound dog award that I just made up if it wasn’t for Wes Welker’s crazy day. We know White is gold in PPR so it’s good to see him still near the top in receptions this season with Julio Jones in the mix. And it is clear that Jones is in the mix. There’s no doubt that Jones has a full tank compared to future Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez, so these target numbers will most likely begin favoring Jones sooner rather than later. Add to that Michael Turner’s no doubt slowdown as the season wears on and you have a recipe for more and more passing. The Jason Snelling versus Jacquizz Rodgers saga didn’t materialize due to Snelling leaving with a concussion. If Snelling is out in week 4 this will be a great opportunity for Rodgers to take a big step forward in that battle.

This game was a blowout from the start so it’s hard to get a good feel for how a real game would have gone, but Torrey Smith was the hub-ub and scuttlebutt. The Ravens could have scored numerous ways in that game, but Smith took advantage of his first three targets and turned each one into a touchdown. The Ravens offense is still filtered through Ray Rice and Anquan Boldin so don’t expect this to become the Torrey Smith show any time soon.Ed Dickson has run away with the tight end job with 20 targets to Pitta’s 6. Boldin and Rice are getting the redzone touches over Dickson, so that will cap his ceiling, but he should continue to be a solid backup tight end.

The #2 wide receiver carousel is flying out of control in Buffalo right now. Thankfully both Donald Jones and David Nelson saw enough targets to both be useful for fantasy purposes, but they won’t face the Patriots pass defense every week. In Chan Gailey’s spread out offense there is no easy way to predict which will get more looks any given day. C.J. Spiller is currently the forgotten man in this new Bills high powered offense. His skill set seems well suited for the fast paced offense, but he only saw the field for 7 total plays compared to Fred Jackson’s 64. That, to put it mildly, is a discrepancy.Scott Chandler has 4 touchdowns on 12 targets. That’s a touchdown for every 3 targets! Throw him the ball! Well, I suppose that touchdown rate may possibly regress at some point. I mean, it WILL regress.

Cam Newton was not on target this week for the most part and that was heightened by the deluge that fell for half the game. But the targets were still there and that’s a good sign as far as his fantasy value goes. His reliance on the tight ends may have been slightly exaggerated due to the weather in this one. The fact that Greg Olsen and Jeremy Shockey continue to split targets hurts their value.

Steve Smith had a clunker of a game, but still was targeted 7 times. That’s good news and there is no reason to lower your expectations for him. The other wide receivers were targeted twice and that was just Legedu Naanee. Brandon LaFell’s targets fell to zero.

The Bears offense runs through Matt Forte even when they aren’t running, which they aren’t. 25% of their total targets have gone to him and with the way their receivers are playing I doubt that number will change anytime soon.

With Earl Bennett out, Dane Sanzenbacher has stepped in and performed well by grabbing a couple touchdowns and seeing 7 targets in each of the last two games. Add that to his 6 red zone looks and he’s an efficient PPR league fill-in as long as Bennett is shelved.

Andre Caldwell got the start this week over Jerome Simpson and saw a whopping 12 targets. Simpson’s status is still up in the air, but his home delivery service isn’t going to help him see more targets unless they’re police investigations. So Caldwell most likely will continue to see these dink and dunk passes from Dalton who doesn’t have a huge arm anyway (it’s normal sized).

Jermaine Gresham continues to get his full allotment of targets, but hasn’t gotten into the end zone since week one. He’ll be inconsistent, but should get his red zone looks; he’s seen 4 this season.

A.J. Green’s targets each week have fluctuated from 4 to 14 to 5. Right now he is probably the best offensive player on that team and needs more than 4-5 targets a week. Logic screams for it!

Colt McCoy does not have the arm strength to take advantage of Greg Little’s large abilities and unfortunately the rest of the receivers and tight ends aren’t good enough or targeted consistently enough to overcome McCoy and the offensive game plan.

This was one of the uglier games I’ve seen in a while. Tony Romo was obviously hurting and the absence of Miles Austin showed just how horrid the Cowboys receiving corps are. The fact that Kevin Ogletree wasn’t benched and had 7 targets shows you how bad they were hurting. The lack of targets and production for Dez Bryant is a little worrisome, but hopefully stemmed from his injury and his quarterback’s injury. Felix Jones played well with his separated shoulder until he separated from it again in the 4th quarter. Why can’t those two just work it out!? Jones played 32 snaps to Tashard Choice’s 24 and Demarco Murray’s 10. With the bye looming in week 5 there’s a chance they may rest Jones to give him 2 weeks off. Choice would most likely split time with Murray, but get a few more touches.

Not much good came from this game in terms of fantasy, but the rise of Eric Decker is still in effect. Yes, his fantasy numbers were lackluster, but 12 targets with Brandon Lloyd back shows that he should continue to see the football. And Decker’s emergence should help Lloyd find some room as well. The running back situation is still pretty murky with Knowshon Moreno being held back once again due to injury. In his absence Willis McGahee didn’t distinguish himself so look for the committee approach to return when Moreno does.

The Lions saw plenty of pressure from Jared Allen and friends, but adjusted in the second half and did what they do in the passing game. This week’s PPR Lion King was Brandon Pettigrew with 13. His targets have gone 6, 3, 13 in the first 3 weeks. That doesn’t leave me too excited about him seeing consistent targets with Tony Scheffler, Nate Burleson and Titus Young all in the mix. And that target discrepancy can now be said for Nate Burleson as well. With only 2 targets in week 3 he is now tied with Titus Young for 4th on the target list. Burleson was still on the field for 73 snaps compared to Young’s 46, but this makes him a riskier start going forward and even though Young has seen 7/8 targets the last 2 games I’d still like to see it again before I’d feel comfortable with him.

This game, as far as the targets go, looks like the perfect spread for Green Bay, or at least close to it. Jennings with 10, Finley with 8, Nelson with 5 and then the rest fight over the scraps. Of course Finley got the touchdowns, but those will get spread out. Donald Driver is losing targets quickly. His week 1-3 target numbers were 7, 1, and 2. Randall Cobb is his replacement, but for now Jordy Nelson is the lowest rung you can grasp at this point.

The running back situation just got dicey. James Starks looked as if he would continue to be the lead back, but then went and had a horrible game in Chicago while Ryan Grant had a great game. But now that Grant has made this statement it doesn’t mean Starks is done. We most likely will see the targets and touches tilt to Grant’s side going forward, but Starks has plenty of life left in his legs to fight back.

The rise of James Casey is the headliner for the Texans this week. The TE/FB position hasn’t been a hot bed for fantasy greatness or for much of anything for that matter, but Casey is out to champion the TE/FB and lead them to world domination! He was used nearly as much as Kevin Walter in the passing game and much more than Jacoby Jones. And as far as targets and production go he started to lap them.

There is a decent chance that Houston is going to take a cue from Bill Belichick and work with 2 even 3 tight end sets and get matchup problems with Daniels and Casey. With Steve Slaton being released there are no small passing down backs to bring in and tip the playbook to the defensive coordinator. If you can have 2 tight ends and a TE/FB out there and still open up the passing game, that can be effective.

Mike Thomas is the biggest football hog in the NFL. He has garnered 42% of all passes thrown by the Jaguar quarterbacks. Even in a downpour he managed 8 targets. Of course with a rookie quarterback these targets aren’t going to all turn into receptions. He’s only catching 54% of his targets, but I have hope for him because he is consistently getting these targets and can put up serviceable PPR numbers.

Not much can be said for this group of misfits. Dexter McCluster’s 9 rushes and 5 receptions were good to see, but on such an inept offense it will be difficult for him to get into the end zone enough to make up for 15 or less touches a game. The best case scenario for him is in full PPR leagues against soft defenses.

The Dolphins’ #1 running back position is now filled. No new applicants are being considered. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out. Thomas’ 26 touches compared to Reggie Bush’s 11 is a pretty big gap, but if you factor in production it is a Grand Canyon sized chasm. Thomas finished the day with 122 yards and a touchdown compared to Bush’s 25 yards and, well, that’s it. And the fact that Thomas saw 3 passes compared to Bush’s 1 doesn’t even bode well for Reggie having PPR value.

Percy Harvin leads the Vikings with 17 targets on the season. Wes Welker and Roddy White had 20 and 17 targets just in week 3. The Vikings passing game is beyond dismal right now. Mike Jenkins had 10 targets and caught 9 of them for 88 yards. That was a nice PPR day, but he had 3 targets each in weeks 1 and 2. I wouldn’t trust this game to be much more than an anomaly at this point. And I’m finding it hard to trust any Viking not named Adrian Peterson.

Wes Welker’s twenty targets is a whole heckuva lot of footballs being thrown in a person’s direction. He is outpacing the rest of the league in targets by 8. Roddy White has 34 to his 42. This uptick in targets seems to be in direct correlation to the loss of Aaron Hernandez and Tom Brady having him on his fantasy team. After Deion Branch had 9 targets in week 1 and 10 in week 2 it seemed inevitable that he would have exactly 11 in week 3! Right? Well, sadly this fake football game doesn’t work like the ACTs so he had 3 instead and caught zero of them. The good news for Branch is that Chad Ochocinco had 4 targets and only caught 2 of them and dropped a sure touchdown in the process. Branch should still get his looks. The running back situation as far as time on the field goes is still dominated by Benjarvus Green-Ellis, but in production, at least for week 3, it was Stevan Ridley. His 7 yards a carry is slightly better than The Law Firm’s 1.8 yards a carry. Yes, that is based on the smallest sample size ever, but it’s a start and worth monitoring.

Darren Sproles is a PPR monster. He is currently the 7th ranked PPR running back and is averaging over 9 targets a game. Even with Lance Moore fully back and also getting targets on shorter routes in week 3 Sproles kept up his target fun. That is good news for his owners, but that running back position in New Orleans is still a little scary. Mark Ingram finally found the end zone, but was only on the field for 20 snaps compared to 37 for Sproles and 19 for Pierre Thomas. These running back numbers are gong to be contingent on the flow of the game and if the Saints have a lead or not. So that leads me to believe the numbers will eventually even out and Sproles remaining as the 7th best PPR running back seems like a lot to ask.

The Giants passing game was extremely productive, especially going up against a tough Eagles pass defense, but that production came from very few targets. Not one player saw over 5 targets or over 26 passing routes. Against easier pass defenses these numbers should expand. Victor Cruz was the story of this game, but with Mario Manningham set to return in week 4 there won’t be as many targets to go around. The three targets, including a touchdown reception for Brandon Jacobs is nice for his owners, but Bradshaw still remains the PPR back to own with 12 targets on the season.

Santonio Holmes’ lack of targets is disturbing. He is their best receiver and should be seeing the ball more. He also wasn’t thrilled with seeing only 2 targets so the squeaky wheel could get the ball thrown at it more in week 4. I’ll chalk this one up as an anomaly.There wasn’t a lack of targets to go around for the other Jets players. Even Shonn Greene got into the action with 7 targets and 7 receptions, but Old Man Tomlinson did most of the damage out of the two running backs on 11 less touches. Greene has been less than productive on the ground so getting some work in the passing game is extremely helpful to his fantasy numbers, but I’m not holding my breath for long term success. Dustin Keller is still Sanchez’s main guy and is the only receiver that has had consistent targets from week to week. Derrick Mason had a big target day, but Sanchez also threw 43 passes which won’t happen every week.

The Raiders are a run first team with Darren McFadden leading the way. Only the inept Seahawks have a target leader with less than Denarius Moore’s 15 total. With Jacoby Ford most likely coming back this week the receiver position gets even more muddled, but it seems that Denarius Moore should continue to see targets since he has done the most with them.

The Eagles passing game is a bit of a mess right now. They had to rely on the ground game in week 3 and LeSean McCoy obliged with another big day, but it was once again hard to decipher who will get targets in the passing game. Michael Vick was being harassed most of the game, Jeremy Maclin left the game with a hamstring injury and then Mike Kafka came in and threw 2 interceptions. Steve Smith did see 5 targets, which is an increase from 2 in week 2, but he was only on the field for 12 plays. That can be read in two ways; first, he only was out there 12 plays, which doesn’t bode well for production, but second, he was targeted on 5 of those plays, which means they have some faith in him. If Maclin were to miss any games with his hamstring issue Smith would probably see a big increase in time on the field.

Mike Wallace continues to put up big numbers and is tied for third in the league with 21 receptions. His status in PPR is much better than many pundits believed in preseason. After him it’s pretty much become the Antonio Brown show. Of course it isn’t that clear cut, but Roethlisberger targets him more than any receiver other than Wallace and he’s on the field much less Hines Ward. We could start to see that change.

We predicted a break out by Ryan Mathews in week 3 and he obliged. Mathews has clearly outplayed Mike Tolbert this season and as long as he stays healthy that will continue. Even after a huge game by Tolbert week 1, Mathews has much higher yards per carry and reception, total receiving and rushing yards, touches and fantasy points. This was Patrick Crayton’s first game back from ankle surgery and he had the second most targets with 7 and this was with Malcom Floyd starting. With Floyd’s injury history and Antonio Gates looking to take a rest from the mess, Crayton is someone to keep an eye on.

Finally a Seahawks’ player who might be worth more than a butt-end of a joke. Sidney Rice returned from his shoulder injury and promptly saw 10 targets and accumulated 8 receptions for 109 yards. Of course this came against a poor Arizona Cardinals’ pass defense, but this is the first sign of fantasy life we’ve seen out of them; let’s take it.

San Francisco 49ers

Vernon Davis - 9 (17), Josh Morgan - 4 (11), Frank Gore - 2 (9), Michael Crabtree - 6 (8), Delanie Walker - 2 (7), Kendall Hunter - 2 (2)It does pay to whine and complain! Vernon Davis was upset that he was blocking rather than running routes in week 2 and he should have been. He is easily their best receiver. He has been targeted 17 times and caught 15 of those for 179 yards. That is an 88% catch rate. Hopefully his week three 8 catch 119 yard performance will get the ball rolling for him. The 49ers offense is averaging 6.8 yards per reception and 2.5 yards per rush and a league low 25 pass attempts per game. That does not leave much room for fantasy points.

The resurgence of the Rams offense under the tutelage of Josh McDaniels has yet to materialize. They have no receivers that can step up and produce consistently (i.e. catch a friggin football). After a big game from Danario Alexander, arguably their most skilled receiver, they decided to get him more involved with 8 targets, but he only hauled in 2 for 28 yards. Until a receiver steps up it will be difficult to rely on any of them.

LeGarrette Blount’s snaps have increased every game this season, from 13 to 26 to 48, whereas Earnest Graham’s have fallen from 46 to 33 to 19. This has a lot to do with the flow of the game, but is still good news for Blount owners. He also had his first 3 passing targets of the season in week 3 as well. Hopefully that will continue.

The Titans lost Kenny Britt for the season in this game, which is a huge blow to their offense, but Matt Hasselbeck is throwing at a crazy 70% completion rate and his offensive line is giving him time. Nate Washington’s 9 targets are what he is averaging for the season and there’s no reason to think he won’t continue to see that or more with Britt out. Yes, it will be more difficult for him without Britt taking coverage away, but it is also quite difficult to not catch half of the balls thrown your way.

Jared Cook has seen a measly 7 targets all season, which is truly a travesty of monumental proportions. The loss of Britt should, SHOULD get more targets for Cook, but we’ll just have to wait to see.

Santana Moss continues to put up solid PPR numbers, but even with Rex Grossman averaging 282 yards passing a game it isn’t really giving out the fantasy points it should because the touchdowns in Native America are spread pretty thin with only Tim Hightower having over 1 (he has 2).

So the true fantasy production looks like it will mostly come from the running back position, which Hightower did a good job defending on Monday Night Football. But even though he had a decent game, Roy Helu was still on the field quite a bit. Helu saw 26 snaps to Hightower's 36 and ran 18 pass routes to Hightower's 12. This could just be the way it is, but I still believe Helu is the more skilled player and will continue to win time.